An analysis of LANDSAT MSS scene-to-scene registration accuracy

Measurements were made for 12 registrations done by ERL for 8 registrations done by SRS. The results indicate that the ERL method is significantly more accurate in five of the eight comparison. The difference between the two methods are not significant in the other three cases. There are two possible reasons for the differences. First, the ERL model is a piecewise linear model and the EDITOR model is a cubic polynomial model. Second, the ERL program resamples using bilinear interpolation while the EDITOR software uses a nearest neighbor resampling. This study did not indicate how much of the difference is attributable to each factor. The average of all merged scene error values for ERL was 31.6 meters and the average for the eight common areas was 32.6 meters. The average of the eight merged scene error values for SRS was 40.1 meters

Using rewards and penalties to obtain desired subject performance

Operant conditioning procedures, specifically the use of negative reinforcement, in achieving stable learning behavior is described. The critical tracking test (CTT) a method of detecting human operator impairment was tested. A pass level is set for each subject, based on that subject's asymptotic skill level while sober. It is critical that complete training take place before the individualized pass level is set in order that the impairment can be detected. The results provide a more general basis for the application of reward/penalty structures in manual control research

Device measures conductivity and velocity of ionized gas streams

Coaxial arrangement of primary coil and two sensing secondary coils contained inside slender quartz tube inserted into ionized stream permits simultaneous determination of conductivity and linear velocity. System results agree favorably with theory

Quasi-circular Orbits for Spinning Binary Black Holes

Using an effective potential method we examine binary black holes where the individual holes carry spin. We trace out sequences of quasi-circular orbits and locate the innermost stable circular orbit as a function of spin. At large separations, the sequences of quasi-circular orbits match well with post-Newtonian expansions, although a clear signature of the simplifying assumption of conformal flatness is seen. The position of the ISCO is found to be strongly dependent on the magnitude of the spin on each black hole. At close separations of the holes, the effective potential method breaks down. In all cases where an ISCO could be determined, we found that an apparent horizon encompassing both holes forms for separations well inside the ISCO. Nevertheless, we argue that the formation of a common horizon is still associated with the breakdown of the effective potential method.Comment: 13 pages, 10 figures, submitted to PR

ON THE LIFE-HISTORY AND SYSTEMATIC POSITION OF THE ORGANISMS CAUSING DRY TOP ROT OF SUGAR CANE

Resumen en inglé

Quantifying fusion born ion populations in magnetically confined plasmas using ion cyclotron emission

Ion cyclotron emission (ICE) offers unique promise as a diagnostic of the fusion born alpha-particle population in magnetically confined plasmas. Pioneering observations from JET and TFTR found that ICE intensity $P_{ICE}$ scales approximately linearly with the measured neutron flux from fusion reactions, and with the inferred concentration, $n_\alpha/n_i$, of fusion-born alpha-particles confined within the plasma. We present fully nonlinear self-consistent kinetic simulations that reproduce this scaling for the first time. This resolves a longstanding question in the physics of fusion alpha-particle confinement and stability in MCF plasmas. It confirms the magnetoacoustic cyclotron instability (MCI) as the likely emission mechanism and greatly strengthens the basis for diagnostic exploitation of ICE in future burning plasmas

Balloon-Borne Video Cassette Recorders For Digital Data Storage

A high-speed, high-capacity digital data storage system has been developed for a new balloon-borne gamma-ray telescope {see paper 0G9.2-2). The system incorporates sophisticated, yet easy to use and economical consumer products: the portable video cassette recorder (VCR) and a relatively newer item - the "digital audio processor". The in-flight recording system employs eight VCRs and will provide a continuous data storage rate of 1.4 megabits/sec throughout a 40 hour balloon flight. Data storage capacity is 25 gigabytes and power consumption is only 10 watts

The Innermost Stable Circular Orbit of Binary Black Holes

We introduce a new method to construct solutions to the constraint equations of general relativity describing binary black holes in quasicircular orbit. Black hole pairs with arbitrary momenta can be constructed with a simple method recently suggested by Brandt and Bruegmann, and quasicircular orbits can then be found by locating a minimum in the binding energy along sequences of constant horizon area. This approach produces binary black holes in a "three-sheeted" manifold structure, as opposed to the "two-sheeted" structure in the conformal-imaging approach adopted earlier by Cook. We focus on locating the innermost stable circular orbit and compare with earlier calculations. Our results confirm those of Cook and imply that the underlying manifold structure has a very small effect on the location of the innermost stable circular orbit.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, RevTex, submitted to PR

Detector and Telescope Development for ProtoEXIST and Fine Beam Measurements of Spectral Response of CZT Detectors

We outline our plan to develop ProtoEXIST, a balloon-borne prototype experiment for the Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope (EXIST) for the Black Hole Finder Probe. EXIST will consist of multiple wide-field hard X-ray coded-aperture telescopes. The current design of the EXIST mission employs two types of telescope systems: high energy telescopes (HETs) using CZT detectors, and low energy telescopes (LETs) using Si detectors. With ProtoEXIST, we will develop and demonstrate the technologies required for the EXIST HETs. As part of our development efforts, we also present recent laboratory measurements of the spectral response and efficiency variation of imaging CZT detectors on a fine scale (~0.5 mm). The preliminary results confirm the need for multi-pixel readouts and small inter-pixel gaps to achieve uniform spectral response and high detection efficiency across detectors.Comment: 9 pages, 12 figures, 1 table, appears in SPIE 2005 proceedings (5898: UV, X-ray, and Gamma-ray Space Instrumentation for Astronomy XIV

Towards a wave--extraction method for numerical relativity: III. Analytical examples for the Beetle--Burko radiation scalar

Beetle and Burko recently introduced a background--independent scalar curvature invariant for general relativity that carries information only about the gravitational radiation in generic spacetimes, in cases where such radiation is incontrovertibly defined. In this paper we adopt a formalism that only uses spatial data as they are used in numerical relativity and compute the Beetle--Burko radiation scalar for a number of analytical examples, specifically linearized Einstein--Rosen cylindrical waves, linearized quadrupole waves, the Kerr spacetime, Bowen--York initial data, and the Kasner spacetime. These examples illustrate how the Beetle--Burko radiation scalar can be used to examine the gravitational wave content of numerically generated spacetimes, and how it may provide a useful diagnostic for initial data sets.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures; We changed the convention used, corrected typos, and expanded the discussio